New Website, New Liberties

Welcome to my renewed website! The last four weeks I have been evaluating the first year of project Beija Flor. What began as 'just' an evaluation, grew into a process of clarification. Clarification of who I am, how I am wired, to clarification why I like to play so many fields: counseling, garden design, workshop facilitation and community work. From clarification of an overall perspective of life, including work, that I have, to the clarification of very concrete new texts, design and photos on my website. I hope you are just as pleased with the result as I am.

With the integration of my understanding of the world (vision) and the creation of very concrete 'containers' (services) on my website, I feel more freedom to not only relate my writings to gardens or nature. My others fields of interest and expertise are communities, individuals and rooted change as well. Although my previous articles never could do without counseling and community work, I always felt compelled to make, at least, a reference to gardening. With the renewed website I am free to write about a much more diverse array of topics.

Currently I am writing a book about communities, and I would like to share here more about it in the future.

I also would like to go deeper into the relationship human/nature, a way of seeing the world that deeply informs my way of counseling.

Moreover, I am a cultural antropolgist by training, amongst other professions. Culture can be seen as a grand narrative, and our western narrative is just one amongst many narratives. In the near future I would also like to address themes like: relational cultures as opposed to individualist and collective cultures. I believe in relational cultures as a potential way to reconnect us to ourselves, the other and nature. Two cultural narratives I draw upon, are the Chinese narrative (not the political-economic one!) and the native narrative.

Of course, gardening and garden design will be part of my future writing. Nature offers us a beautiful richness of metaphors and analogies. In a way, my work considering communities and counseling cannot do without the more-than-human-world. And vice versa.

The worldview I am offering here in my writings, can be alternatives for how we currently organize our societies. I believe in autonomy rather than individualism, I believe in cooperation rather than competition, I believe in trust rather than control, I believe in relational cultures rather than individualist or collectivist ones. And, not unimportant, I believe we are in essence good, to be trusted, with the best intentions. In control, fear, competion, distrust, exhaust and restlesness I see trauma. Fortunately, trauma can come into our awareness, embraced and healed. I call this evolution. We now need the audacity to step into healing, not as individuals only, but as groups, communities and societies. In order to keep a light environment for the healing work to be successful, I stress the importance of joy, playfulness, diversity and colorfulness - which are no stranger to queer ecosystems. Just as queer perspectives bring in joy and playfulness, indigenous bring in the sacredness of life. I am very much in love with Robin Wall Kimmerer's concepts of cultures of gratitude and reciprocity. These concepts enabled me to refine my own concept of relational cultures.

Yes, there is a lot to talk about with you, my reader. I hope you take this journey together with me. I hope you will be inspired. Above the page 'My Writings' you can subscribe. Every time when a new article is published, you will get a reminder in your e-mailbox. And when you intuit my work can help you or your community in more specific ways, feel free to contact me. More info, of course, on my website.

Warm winter greetings,

Wende